Tag: design

For a young disabled person growing up in the 1990s and early 2000s, just as the personal computer was launching its invasion of homes, schools and workplaces; technological development offered a tantalising glimpse of future liberations from restrictions imposed by my impairment. I have cerebral palsy which means that my condition is unlikely to change very much but, from early on, the running presumption was that technological progress would alleviate some of the resulting disadvantages.

During my teenage years, I could see how word processing, email, instant messaging, web browsing and any number of other software applications might revolutionise the way I worked and played. Yet, at the same time, I was frustrated that my lack of fine motor control meant that I was unable to use a mouse and keyboard.

Would you entrust a robot with your care? According to a poll conducted by YouGov last year, around half of us would like robots to perform domestic tasks for disabled and older people.

The UK is at the forefront of innovation when it comes to building autonomous systems for the home. Dyson’s 360 robot vacuum cleaner is heavily influenced by the company’s collaboration with Imperial College London which has produced world leading research on robot vision. The University of Edinburgh is studying how a robot might be able to decipher their owner’s instructions to learn to carry out a daily living task by interpreting their verbal communications, eye movements and hand gestures. Perhaps the most ambitious project is Middlesex University and the University of Bedfordshire’s three-year project to design social humanoid robots with capabilities ranging from giving medication and connecting to household appliances, to providing companionship and facilitating communication with loved ones and health care professionals.

‘My GP agreed I should get a wheelchair and this would help me. It should have been the hardest part, but actually, it got worse.’ The story of junior doctor Hannah Barham-Brown’s struggles with the NHS wheelchair service in England which produced an unusable wheelchair after a six-month wait will resonate with many who have had similar experiences at the hands of the country’s largest provider of wheelchairs.

Dr Barham-Brown’s speech to the British Medical Association’s recent conference paved the way for a unanimous vote for the association to adopt ensuring patients have timely access to suitable wheelchairs as a priority in its work with NHS England and other bodies.

Of all the social problems confronting Britain today, the housing shortage is one of the most vexing. Estimates suggest that the gap between the number of new homes needed in England and those available is 100,000 per year.

While outdated planning laws and political controversy conspire to slow construction to a trickle, a generational divide continues to widen between younger people who can barely afford to rent and the swelling ranks of older home owners living in oversized properties which are not suited to the practicalities of daily life as an older person.

Older people have many advantages over the young. The accumulation of years brings experience, wisdom and contentment. Older age can also be a time of discovery, when the commitments of family and working life recede and give way to personal interests and pursuits.

While older people have far more opportunities for self fulfilment in later life than ever before, they are still less likely to be able to enjoy the benefits of the digital age. The latest figures show that people aged 65 and over are less likely to have access to the internet or own a smartphone and tend to value the postal system as a means of regular communication more than others.

Research tells us that most assistive technology equipment is abandoned, often within the first year. Products frequently fail to match consumer expectations for effectiveness, durability, comfort and ease of use.

Since the dawn of mainstream personal computing in the 1980s, the mouse and keyboard have become such an integral part of our daily routines that it might seem hard to imagine how or why we would consider life without them. And yet, technologists are always seeking breakthroughs that will herald the next big thing to revolutionise our increasingly digitised world.